How to Extract Legendary Powers with Kanai’s Cube

Season 4 of Diablo III was the first time that players had access to Kanai’s Cube.

Technically, players who decided to check out the Player Test Realm (PTR) were able to find and use Kanai’s Cube before it was placed into the game.

So, for me, the first opportunity I had to use it was during Season 4.

I was playing hardcore characters during Season 4, so all of the things I put in Kanai’s Cube can only affect my hardcore characters. Eventually, I want to “complete” the entire Kanai’s Cube – by putting all the stuff into it (in both hardcore and softcore).

Players can find Kanai’s Cube in the Elder Sanctum in the Ruins of Sescheron. The quickest way to get there is to go into Adventure Mode and use the waypoint. Find Sescheron on the map for Act III. Run around in The Ruins of Sescheron, and the Elder Sanctum, until you find Kanai’s Cube.

It is pretty much impossible to miss or walk past without realizing it.

When I started Season 4, I wasn’t sure if I would like the Kanai’s Cube. I’d heard good things about it, but didn’t know if I would find it intuitive or confusing to use. It turns out that using Kanai’s Cube is so much fun that it felt addicting. Must cube all the things!

This is what the interface for Kanai’s Cube looks like. The little book towards the bottom of the window holds recipes. The pop-up says: Kanai’s Cube an be used to make exciting new things. Place recipe items within the cube itself to begin. Either drag items to the Cube or Right-Click on them in your inventory.

The recipe that I spent the most time with was Archive of Tal Rasha. It enables you to extract a Legendary Power off of the items you put into Kanai’s Cube. Only certain things can be added to the cube, so check your stash and then search through Kanai’s Cube to see if a particular Legendary item will go into it.

The Archive of Tal Rasha recipe requires:
* Legendary Item with Special Power x1
* Khanduran Rune x1 (You can get these by doing Bounties in Act I)
* Caldeum Nightshade x1 (You can get these by doing Bounties in Act II)
* Arreat War Tapestry x1 (You can get these by doing Bounties in Act III)
* Corrupted Angel Flesh x1 (You can get these by doing Bounties in Act IV)
* Westmarch Holy Water x1 (You can get these by doing Bounties in Act V)
* Death’s Breath x5 (You can get these by killing packs of blue monsters that are level 60 or over.)

Put all of that together, click “Transmute”, and you will have extracted a Legendary Power. The item itself disappears into Kanai’s Cube. Players can access the special power from one piece of jewelry, one piece of armor, and one weapon (or shield) that is in Kanai’s Cube, at the same time. This is in addition to the stuff your character is already wearing.

The flavor text for the Archive of Tal Rasha recipe says: “…all agreed that the cube was necessary if the hunt for the three was to be successful. They thought they understood the dangers.” – fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls.

Here are some of the Achievements that players can earn by using Kanai’s Cube to extract Legendary Powers:

Published by Jen

Podcaster since 2005. Freelance writer since 2010. Former host of the Shattered Soulstone podcast - now the editor. Host of the Words of Jen Podcast and the Jen's Lore Corner Podcast. Plagued by several chronic illnesses.
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I’m not entirely certain what you are asking – but maybe this explanation will help.

Kanai’s Cube allows players to transmute any of the items that will go into the cube one time. For example, in this blog post, I put the Death Watch Mantle into Kanai’s Cube. I can only do that once.

The good news is that players can put one of – each – of the items that Kanai’s Cube will accept into it. (This is assuming you have enough materials and Death’s Breaths to do it).

Players are not actually transferring the power of the items that is in Kanai’s Cube onto their existing gear/weapons. Players get whatever the gear/weapons they are using provides AND the special power of items they put into the cube.

In other words, you can’t put the Death Watch Mantle into Kanai’s Cube, and use that to transfer its power to your current shoulders. But, that’s ok, because you still get the power of the things in Kanai’s Cube AND the things that are on your current shoulders. You get both at the same time.

There are some limitations. Not all Legendaries go into Kanai’s Cube. Players can only choose one weapon/shield, one piece of armor, and one ring/necklace at a time. You can change which ones you want to use by selecting anything you have put into Kanai’s Cube.

Hi Jen – I have a seasonal character and trying to finish Slayer tasks.
It says to extract legendary power from a ring, armor, and a weapon.
All of which I have done multiple times now, but still won’t “award” me that task.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks

I did some research and trouble-shooting to figure out why you were unsuccessful with Kanai’s Cube. There wasn’t anyone posting about this issue in the Diablo Forums, and couldn’t find any articles or blogs mentioning this problem.

So, I got in game and fiddled with it myself. I already had a weapon and a piece of armor in Kanai’s Cube. I had both of those items equipped through the cube, so my character could use the special Legendary powers (while wearing something else).

My Season 17 Barbarian was wearing a Legendary ring that was one that goes into the cube. I replaced the ring with one that I crafted at the Jeweler. (The Jeweler gave me a “yellow” ring that was better than the Legendary one).

I put the Legendary ring into Kanai’s Cube and…. the game did not indicate that I had earned the Slayer objective you mentioned. My next step was to click on the box inside Kanai’s Cube that connects to rings/amulets. I equipped the Legendary ring I just put into Kanai’s Cube by selecting it inside the cube.

Boom! The “Achievement Toast” for the objective you mentioned appeared. Just to be sure, I looked at my Season Journey. The “Third Power Cubed” objective was checked off as completed.

In short – The way to earn this objective is not only to put (at least) one weapon, one piece of armor, and one ring/amulet into Kanai’s cube, but also to equip one of each of them through Kanai’s Cube.